Meaning & Origins

Irish: reduced Anglicized form of either of two Gaelic names, Ó Duibhín ‘descendant of Duibhín’, a byname meaning ‘little black one’, or Ó Daimhín ‘descendant of Daimhín’, a byname meaning ‘fawn’, ‘little stag’. These are attenuated versions of Ó Dubháin and Ó Damháin, and are the phonetic origin of Anglicizations with an internal v (as opposed to w, as in Dewan, or monosyllabic forms with an o or u) (see Doane).